Howmuch should a Christian give?When
should he or she give?Where should he
or she
give? Does a believer in Christ have to
give anything at all? Is the local church God's
storehouse?Is tithing required for
this dispensation?These are some
of the questions which we propose to answer as we bring this series of
messages.

The Law of the Tithe

As
we study the Bible, we find that the law of the tithe was given exclusively to
the Jewish people.We must always
be careful when we study God's Word to find out who is speaking, who is being
spoken to and what is being spoken about.The
reason why so many people don't understand their Bibles is that they've never
learned how to
"rightly divide the word of truth." - II
Tim. 2:15.

God
divides the whole human race into three distinct groups - the Jews, the Gentiles
and the Church of God.Notice:

"Give
none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, norto the
church of God."
-
I Cor.
10:32.

The
Jews are those who are descended from Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the twelve
tribes of Israel.All the other
nations of the world are the Gentiles, the second mentioned class.Then there is the Church, which is that group of believers, both Jews and
Gentiles, who by personal faith have received the Lord Jesus Christ and have
been born from above.

The
Jews are the only ones who were ever commanded to pay tithes.Notice:

"And
allthe tithe of the
land,whether
of the seed of the land orof the
fruit of the tree . . . the tithe of
the herd, or of the flock . . . the tenth shall be holy unto the
Lord." -
Lev. 27:30-32.

"Behold,
I have given the children of Levi all the tenth inIsrael for
an inheritance, for their service
which they serve, even the service of the tabernacleof the congregation. Neither must the children of Israel henceforth come
nigh the tabernacle of the congregation, lest they bear sin, anddie.But the Levites shall do the service of the tabernacle of the
congregation, and they shall bear
their iniquity: it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations, that
among the children of Israel they have no inheritance . . . The tithes of the
children of Israel which they offer as an heave offering unto the Lord, I have
given to the Levites to inherit: therefore I have said unto them, Among the
children of Israel they shall have no inheritance."
-
Numbers 18:21-24.

It's
plain to see from these Scriptures that tithing was distinctly a Jewish command
and practice.The Jews were to take
one-tenth of all their corn, oil, barley, wine, cattle, and one-tenth of all
their flocks and bring these things to the storehouse adjoining the temple.

Tribe of Levi Got the Tithe

The tithe was really the Jews' income tax
(Many miss this).And
the reason why God gave the tithing system to the Jews was in order to take care
of the tribe of Levi.The tribe of
Levi was the only tribe among the Jews who couldn't own any land.They were not allowed to cultivate any land.They couldn't engage in any kind of business.Their job was to take care of the temple service and administer spiritual
things for the Jewish people.The
Levites were to receive the tithe because of their job of serving in the temple
and because they were the special servants of the Lord.They were to serve the Lord full time.Now the Jews had to pay their tithes regularly each year in order to take
care of this one tribe of Levi.Numbers
18:21-24.

I
don't know if you have any Cohens in your city, but if you live in a city of any
size, you will probably find some Cohens listed in the telephone book.Well, the Cohen family really stems from the high priestly family of the
Levites.And when the division of
land was made among the twelve tribes, the Levites didn't get anything.You see - God said to the tribe of Levi, "I
am going to be your inheritance." They were to be in full time
service for the Lord, so to speak.How
would they be supported?Well, how
do we support our President, our senators, our representatives, and our Police
Departments?Everyone knows the
answer.By taxes.Well, that's the way the children of Israel were to take care of the
tribe of Levi.

In
Hebrews 7:5 we have this enlightening truth.If you will turn with me to Hebrews, the seventh chapter, I will show you
that the Levitical priests were the only ones who were allowed to receive
tithes.Notice:

"Verily
they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood,
have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law."- Heb. 7:5.

Beloved,
did you catch that?The Bible says
here that the Levitical priests were the only ones ever given authority to take
tithes from the people.Their duty
under the law was to offer up dead sacrifices daily for the sins of the people.Numbers 18:21-32.That was under the law.But now under grace, Christ is our high priest and all born again
believers are priests of a royal priesthood.The Word of God says in I Peter 2:5 that we are a chosen generation, a
royal priesthood, and we are to offer up our bodies as a living sacrifice.The Levites offered up dead sacrifices, but today we are called upon to
offer up our bodies as living sacrifices to the Lord Jesus Christ who loved us
and redeemed us by His own precious blood.

What
About the Storehouse?

No
doubt many of you have heard it said at some time or other, that the local
church is the storehouse.Many
preachers have made it a hobby to preach on Malachi 3:9,10 to
scare people into
giving all their money to the local church.Now I would like to discuss this Scripture with you.

"Ye
are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in
mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not
open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall
not be room enough to receive it."- Mal.
8:9,10.

Those
who "beat the drums" for tithing use this verse more than any other.In fact, this Scripture has been so worked to death that very few people
have ever studied it in the light of its context.Now first of all, please notice that this Scripture has no reference to
the church - the body of Christ.God
is speaking here to the Jews, as the first verse of the book clearly shows.When you study your Bibles, you must find out to whom God is
speaking and what God is speaking about.Now
God is speaking here to our Jewish people in regard to a literal storehouse, a
warehouse into which Israel brought tithes of food for the use of the priests
and Levites.

Notice
what God says, "Ye are cursed with a
curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation." By the way, when
Malachi wrote this Scripture - when God spoke this to our Jewish people - they
were in a terribly backslidden condition.God
even had to make a bargain with the Jews and tell them that if they would tithe,
He would give them rain from heaven and bless the land physically.But we don't have to bargain with God today, because the Bible says in
Ephesians 1:3 that "we
are blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus."

Now
in view of these facts, how can anyone take this passage of Scripture and apply
it to the church?This has no more
reference to the church than the command to offer up animal sacrifices.The Jews were told to "bring all their tithes into the
storehouse." And the storehouse adjoined the temple at Jerusalem where the
Jews brought their field produce and flocks.There is no storehouse in this dispensation of grace.There is no tribe of Levi today to receive tithes.The temple at Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 AD when Titus and his Roman
Army came into Jerusalem and scattered the Jews to the four corners of the
earth.

It's
surprising how many people have been influenced by pastors who have taken this
one Scripture out of its context, Malachi 3:10, where God said to the Jews, "bring
ye all the tithes into the storehouse."And these preachers have
told their congregations that their churches constitute the storehouse.Oh, these people will tune into our broadcast and they'll receive rich
spiritual blessing, but they won't support our program because they've been
taught that the church is the storehouse and that all money must be given to the
local church.They fail to see that this command was given to the Jews
under the law.

Many
pastors terrify their people and threaten them with horrible judgments.They say, "If you don't tithe, God will cause you to have sickness,
doctor and hospital bills.If you
don't pay that which belongs to God, you will have trouble, pestilence, loss of
job, loss of money, poverty and other misfortunes." To prove their point
they open the Bible and read the Old Testament Law in Malachi, and in the book
of Deuteronomy.What pathetic
jumbling of the Word of God!

We
Are Not Under Law, But Grace

Remember
this: All the curses and penalties of the law were abolished, ended, and done
away with when Christ was "made
a curse for us." - Gal. 3:13.The
laws of Moses are dead, finished, and disannulled as weak and unprofitable.Heb. 7:18-19.No man is
justified by doing the works of the law.Gal.
3:11.But we are justified by faith
in Christ.Gal. 3:24.Paul declares, "We are not under law, but
under grace." - Rom. 6:14 and Gal. 5:18.

Salvation
and eternal life are FREE
without money or price.Isa.
55: 1. We don't give to be saved.We
give because we are saved, and because we want
others to be saved.

Here
is the plain simple truth about giving to the Lord's work.In Old Testament times our Lord expressed His will by the tithing law.Disobedience brought punishment.

Under
grace our Lord expresses His will, not by law, but in plain simple statements.Then He promises rewards to those who obey His will.

Failure to tithe
under law brought wrath. Failure to give liberally under grace brings no
rewards.

Here
it is in a nutshell: Failure to tithe under law brought wrath.Failure to give liberally under grace brings no rewards.

Since
there is no law or commandments to tithe today, don't you think that it is
cruel, unjust and unrighteous to inject fear, to abuse and intimidate Christians
because they don't tithe?Don't you
think that it is plain iniquity to threaten them with dreadful calamities?

Many
claim that the Old Testament tithing law is permanent, but that is not true.The Apostle Paul makes it crystal clear that the tithing law was nailed
to the cross along with all the rest of the Mosaic laws when Jesus died at
Calvary.Notice:

"Blotting
out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us,
and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross."
- Col. 2:14.

In
Malachi 3:7,14 we find that God refers to tithing as an "ordinance,"
but here we have the clear-cut statement that Christ "blotted out the
handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and
took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross." In other words, the
ordinance of tithing was abolished at the cross of Calvary with the rest of the
Jewish law.Could anything be
plainer?

God's
Word forbids us to mix law and grace.
(See: Col.
2:16 and Gal. 6:1.) Under law, men
paid tithes because of fear.Under
grace men give because they love the Lord Jesus and His Gospel.Under law the people gave because they had to.Under grace they give because they want to.That is, the Holy Spirit in men causes them to be willing and eager to
give. (See: Rom. 8:4 and Heb. 8:10.

)

Therefore,
in order to raise large sums of money to carry on our work we simply do not
depend on men.Neither do we carry
any feeling of resentment against those who do not tithe.Instead of depending on men, we look to the Lord; that is, we
believe that His Spirit in men will cause them to support our work.
(See:
Heb. 10: 16.

)

Is
the Church the Storehouse?

Nowhere
in the Bible are we told that the church is the storehouse.Beloved, I challenge you to find one Scripture in the Word of God, which
says that the church is the storehouse.If
the church were the storehouse it would rule out any faith work such as this
radio ministry, because we have never yet found a church which would sponsor and
support our ministry 100%.If the
storehouse tithing enthusiasts had their way there would be no Back to the Bible
Broadcast, no Radio Bible Class, no Prisoner's Bible Broadcast, no
Morning
Chapel Hour or any other independent radio ministry.There would have been no Hudson Taylor, there would have been
no David Livingstone, and there would have been no William Carey.

I
say again, beloved, if I had to depend upon any local church for support I would
have gone off the radio long ago.But
God has raised up the radio ministry to reach countless thousands who would
never be reached by the local church.

Let's
remember that we are not here, as God's children, to forward the interest of any
denomination.We are not here to
build up big million dollar churches.It's
our job to magnify the Lord Jesus Christ and to bear witness of Him.Acts 1:8.You can support
any work that glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ and magnifies His Name, and God
will bless you for it. I personally believe that if pastors would be more
unselfish, their own personal needs would be more abundantly supplied.Let's remember that we are one body and we are supposed to have one
interest -the salvation of the lost.I
am for every preacher and every servant of God who is faithfully preaching the
Book, the Blood, and the Blessed Hope.They
are all worthy of our support.

A
Bomb on Tithing

There
are two or three more Scriptures on tithing that I would like to discuss with
you.I wish that I could get every
storehouse-tithing enthusiast to read Deuteronomy 14:22-26.

Please
notice: "Thou
shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth
year by year.And thou shalt eat
before the Lord thy God, in the place which He shall choose to place His name
there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings
of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the Lord thy God
always.And if the way be too long
for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it; or if the place be too far from
thee, which the Lord thy God shall choose to set His name there, when the Lord
thy God hath blessed thee:

"Then
shalt thou turn it into money, and bind up the money in thine hands, and shalt
go unto the place which the Lord thy God shall choose: And thou shalt bestow
that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for
wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt
eat there before the Lord thy God and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine
household."

I
am sure that you can see the mischief which results when one tries to mix the
covenant of Law with the liberty of Grace.This Scripture says that the Jew could spend his tithe "for
wine or for strong drink." The storehouse tithing enthusiast will
find himself in a pretty bad shape if he tries to live by this Scripture, for
these verses plainly tell us that the Jews could spend their tithes on beer and
whiskey.Anyone should be able to
see that these instructions were given to Israel long before the full revelation
of Christian living was given to the Church through the Apostle Paul.How necessary it is that God's people learn to "rightly
divide the word of truth."
(See: 2 Tim. 2:15.

)

Jesus
and Tithing

We
have only three places recorded where the Lord Jesus ever mentioned tithing -
Matt. 23:23, Luke 11:42 and Luke 18:9-12.In
every instance the Lord Jesus was speaking to the unbelieving Pharisees - those
who were under the law.

In
Matthew 23:23 Jesus said: "Woe
unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye pay tithe of mint and anise
and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of THE LAW, judgment, mercy,
and faith; these ought ye to have done and not to leave the other undone."You will notice in this passage that Christ was speaking to the
Pharisees, and He told them that under the law their obligations were greater
than just paying tithes.

Why
did Jesus say that the unsaved Pharisees should practice tithing?Because they were under the LAW,
and the law commanded it.

However,
Jesus never said one word about tithing when speaking to His disciples.Now is it right to take what Jesus said to unbelieving Pharisees (those
who were under the law) and apply the same to those who are under grace?Isn't this a little illogical?

There
is not
one Scripture where Christ ever enjoined tithing on born again believers.Christ nowhere taught His disciples to observe tithing.Tithing was for the disciples of Moses, not for the disciples of Christ.
(See:
John 1:17.

)

We
must always be careful as we study the Word of God to ascertain whether God is
speaking to people under Law or under Grace.It certainly is wrong to apply that which is written for the Jew to the
Church of God, and yet that is exactly what most of these people do who advocate
storehouse tithing.

The
Law which the Christian should be concerned about is the Law of Love, not
the
Law of Moses.We're under the Law
of Love when we're saved and this comprehends all laws which man should keep.
(Romans 13:10, Gal. 5:14, John 13:34, Matt. 22:37-39.)

Abraham's
Tithing

In
Genesis 14:20 we read where Abraham gave tithes to Melchizedek, the high priest
of Salem.One of the main arguments
used by those who teach that tithing is for today is that Abraham paid tithes to
Melchizedek before the Law of Moses was given, and therefore, we ought to pay
them too.But those who use this
argument fail to realize several things:

(a)
Abraham's tithing to Melchizedek was a freewill act, without any request on
God's part that he should do it.

(b)
His "tithe"
was not brought to any "storehouse"
or Sanctuary. (See Genesis 14:17-24).

(c)
Abraham was 80 years of age before he tithed, and it is not recorded that he
ever tithed again.

(d)
Abraham was not given any promise of "blessing"
for his tithing to Melchizedek.

Incidentally,
Abraham's tithe consisted of spoils of war.
(See:
Genesis 14:16.) He had just
won a battle over his enemies.If
we're going to do everything that Abraham did, we will have to kill some cattle,
some sheep, some goats, and burn them as a burnt offering to God.We do not have to go back to Abraham's tithing to learn how to give in
this dispensation of grace.Today
we find our instructions for giving in I Corinthians 16:1,2; II Corinthians
8:2-4 and 9:7.

Proving
God

Many
preachers say that we should prove or test God, because we are told in Malachi
3:10, "Prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open
you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be
room enough to receive it."Again, all we have to do is find out to whom God is speaking.Is He speaking to the Jew, the Gentile, or the Church of God?
(See:
I Cor. 10:32).Just read
Malachi 1:1 and you will see that God is definitely writing to Israel.

But
are we to prove or test God today?Absolutely
not.Today the Lord says that we as
members of the Body of Christ are "blessed with all spiritual
blessings in the heavenlies in Christ."(Eph. 1:3).We
are to trustGod, not testGod.Malachi 3 was
written to Israel after the Jews had turned away from God - when they were not
trusting His faithfulness.When
Israel was in the favor of God, the Lord told them,
"Ye shall not tempt (or prove) the
Lord your God."
(See: Deut. 6:16.

)

We
are not to bargain with God.In
this age of Grace we have something so much better than Israel had in the age of
Law.Today we have the precious
indwelling of the Spirit and the full revelation of God as revealed in His Word,
the Bible.We are living on this
side of the cross.We are living on
resurrection ground.The Jews lived
on types and shadows.Today we have
the reality, Christ Himself.The
reality is better than the symbol; the substance is better than the shadow.

Regardless
of whether we prosper in this world or not this is not the main thing. Earthly
prosperity is not guaranteed to every Christian.Many very worldly people prosper in business, but we, as
Christians are to seek those divine blessings and promises, which are under the
New Covenant.

Tithing Is Good - If...

I
certainly am not opposing anyone giving a tithe of his income, if they tithe of
their own free will and not by law.Most
of us should give much more thana tithe, and with many of us tithing is entirely too little.But, whether we give a tithe or morethan a tithe, it must not be by LAW, for we are not under the LAW.The law that contained tithing has been done away. (See: Col. 2:14-17).

New
Testament Giving

The
subject of giving is clearly brought out in the New Testament and there is no
excuse for anyone to resort to the Old Testament and the law to teach how we
should give.Now let's look at the
New Testament principles of giving.Let
us consider some portions of Scripture that establish the norms for our
financial stewardship in this dispensation of grace.

Christian
Giving Should Be Done Secretly

In
regard to Christians' "giving," the Lord Jesus admonished that it
should be done with discretion or secretly..."when
thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth." (Matt. 6:3)

Giving
by means of "tithing" is the very opposite of this.You have to count it, speak of it, make it known, and quite a number of
people will become aware how much one earns and how much one is giving.The entire system of tithing is linked up with other things, which are
not in the spirit of New Testament teaching.

Christian
Giving Is A Personal Matter

"Upon
the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath
prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come."
(I Cor. 16:2)

This
Scripture is very plain in telling us that giving is a personal matter.Notice the phrase, "let every one of you . . .
"Let every one of you
- father, mother, son and children do his own giving.Each one of us must do our own repenting, each one of us must
do our own praying, each one of us must do our own dying, and each one of us
must do our own giving.

Neither
preacher nor leader in the church has any right to dictate or tell youhow muchto give or where you should give.That
is strictly between you and the Lord.It
is nobody's business where or how much you give.The Holy Spirit will lead you in your giving if you will seek His
guidance.

Christian
Giving Should Be Proportionate

Christian
giving should be proportionate.Notice
the expression, "let every one of you lay by him as God hath prospered him." How
plain!How simple!Paul answers the all-important question of how much we should give to the
Lord in just five terse words, "as God hath prospered him."

There
are some Christians like Mr. LeTourneau who can give 90% to the Lord's work.Others can give 50%.Some
can give 20% or 10%.There are some
poor widows and pensioners who are only able to give a bare mite or nothing at
all.

This
is "proportionate giving" or as the Holy Spirit puts it,
"according as God hath prospered you."

Christian
Giving Should Be Voluntary

Born
again believers should be ready and willing to give at all times - wherever the
Holy Spirit shows us there is a need.Going
back to I Corinthians 16:1-2 we have a good example of this kind of giving.The Apostle Paul said, "Now
concerning the COLLECTION FOR THE SAINTS ... upon the first day of the week let
every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him . . ."This was a special offering
to help the poor saints at Jerusalem.It
was an emergency or relief offering.And
Paul urged each Corinthian believer to lay aside so much money according "as
God hath prospered him" so that there would be enough money on hand
to help these poor saints when he came to the church.

I
have heard some preachers use this passage to justify storehouse tithing, but
actually it teaches just the opposite.Paul
said, "Let every one of you lay by himselfin store."

The
Apostle did not tell them to place their offerings into a church treasury.Instead, each believer was to lay by, or store, a portion of his week's
income until the time came to send it to the poor saints at Jerusalem.

Let
us realize once and for all that there is no church storehouse in this
dispensation of grace.Rather, each
believer has his own storehouse and is his own storekeeper.

Christian
Giving Must Be Spirit-Directed

In
Galatians 5:18 we read, "If
ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law."Now we know according to Matt. 23:23, Heb. 7:5 and Lev. 27:30-34 that
tithing was a part of the law.It
was a part of the old covenant that was done away in Christ.Now when people put themselves under the law of tithing, (a system that
was weak and unprofitable according to Heb. 7:18) they are not being led of the
Spirit.

In
this dispensation of grace all of our giving must be Spirit-directed.Listen to this quotation from the Amplified New Testament."But NOW we are
discharged from the LAW and have terminated all intercourse with it, having died
to what ONCE RESTRAINED us and held us captive.So NOW we serve not under (obedience to) the old code of
written regulations, but (under obedience to the promptings) of the Spirit in
newness (of life)."
(Rom. 7:6)

Beloved,
the law is not our standard of living today.Today it is no longer what the law requires, but what the Spirit would
have us to do.To try to practice
tithing is to go back to that which held Israel in bondage.It is the exact opposite of serving God in the NEWNESS
OF THE SPIRIT.

There
is nothing in the Bible, which tells the sons of God how much they are to give.That is left up to each believer and the leadership of the Spirit."Let
every one (give) as he has made up his mind and purposed in his heart, not
reluctantly or sorrowfully or under compulsion." (See:
2 Cor. 9:7.Amplified Translation.

)

By
all means give to the Lord's cause.Give
all you can.But in all your giving
ignore the law, its terms, decrees and demands.They were nailed to the cross and completely wiped away by the death of
Christ. (See: Col. 2:13-14)

Let
us no longer listen to the law or any of its decrees.Christ forever made us free from all that.But let us yield ourselves in humble submission to the Spirit of God, and
He will lead us in all our giving, and in every thought and deed.There is no other way to have victory over the flesh with all its pride,
its greed, its love for pleasure, its desire to satisfy self and all its
longings.It is the only way to
conquer all fleshly desires and habits.Victory
can never come through listening to the law and its demands.It can only come through absolute surrender to the Spirit of
God to let Him lead us in all our service, deeds, thoughts and actions."Walk
in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh."
(Gal. 5:16)

We
need more Spirit-led giving and less law-led and preacher-led giving.Spirit-led giving always honors God -and promotes Scriptural things.Let the Spirit lead you in your giving and you will never go wrong.

Christian
Giving Must Be Done Willingly

We
are not to give to ease our conscience.We
are not to give because we feel that we have to give.We are not to give to make a name for ourselves.We are not to give because others give.Rather, the born again believer gives because he loves the Lord and
because of what Christ has done for him.

Listen
to this enlightening Scripture: "For
if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath,
and not according to what he hath not."
(II Cor. 8:12).Herein
is the supreme difference between giving under law and giving under grace.Grace is undeserved, unmerited favor bestowed on sinful man because God
so loved that He gave.Similarly,
the only gift that God accepts in this age of grace is that which comes from the
heart constrained by this same love.Any
gift tarnished or cheapened by any other motive is unacceptable.God asks and wants no more than what we will give willingly.

Christian
Giving Should Be Done Cheerfully

If
we have the right motive in giving, God is going to bless us. What is the right
motive?Listen to the Word of God.

"Every
man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or
of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver."(2
Cor. 9:7)

Unless
our contributions come from a willing heart, we need not expect to receive a
blessing as a result of our giving.If
we give grudgingly and reluctantly, how can we expect God to accept it in the
same way as He does a cheerful contribution?Do not forget that God sees the heart, and he knows the attitude in which
you give.

I
heard the story of a man who felt around in his pocket on Sunday morning to find
a penny.He thought he had found
one, and quickly dropped it into the offering plate.After he reached home, to his surprise, he found that he had
dropped in a ten-dollar gold piece instead of a penny.He said to his wife, "Well, it can't be helped now, and anyway, God
will give me credit for my ten dollars." His wife answered, "You
miser!God will give you credit for
the penny you meant to put in." God sees the heart, He knows how you give,
and He will bless you accordingly.Those
who give cheerfully, from a heart of love, are those who are blessed in their
soul from giving; those who give grudgingly, find it a painful operation to part
with their money; therefore, a grievous wound is left in the soul, instead of
God's blessing of joy and peace.

We
can settle this whole question of money if we would realize once and for all
that all of our money really belongs to God.When we are saved everything we have, including body, time and money
belongs to Him who loved us and redeemed us with His own precious blood.That's why God's Word says, "Ye
are not your own for ye are bought with a price." (I Cor. 6:19,20)God says, "The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of
hosts." (Hag.
2:8)

He
also says, "For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a
thousand hills." (Psalms50:10).I don't know where anyone gets the idea that only one-tenth of our money
belongs to the Lord.

All
that the child of God has belongs to God.What's
the use of singing the song, "All to Jesus, I surrender all; all to Him I
freely give" if we have the idea that only one tenth belongs to the Lord.We are just deceiving ourselves.Everything
that we possess has been entrusted to us to be used for the glory of God.That includes our time, our talents, our minds, our business, our
clothes, our bank accounts and everything we have.What a selfish idea that one-tenth belongs to the Lord and nine-tenths to
us!

Liberal
Giving Is God's Plan

When
we compare the Old Testament teachings on giving with those in the New
Testament, we find there is a vast difference.Under Old Testament law the people were forced to give.Under grace, a Christian gives because he loves to give.

Many
times the question comes up, "How much should a believer give to the
Lord?" Well, maybe you can give $5.00 a week, or maybe 50 cents is all you
can give, but whatever the amount - God says "if there be first a willing
mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he
hath not."(2Cor. 8:12).God
not only considers what we give, but what we keep as well, and we are
responsible to him for it all.He
tells us too, that "he which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which
soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully."(2
Cor. 9:6)

Christian
giving should not be done for the sake of reward, but God promises a reward to
those who give liberally out of a heart of love.One who really loves the Savior and His work usually gives
with a cheerful heart.It is just
as natural for that person to give as it is for the sun to shine.

The
Rewards for Giving

Actually,
the human mind cannot grasp the greatness of the rewards that the Lord has for
those who give all their time, work and talent to preach, teach, write and
spread the Gospel.And those who
support the Lord's work will actually receive a reward as great as those who do
the Lord's work. (See: Matt. 10:41
and I Tim. 6:19).

What
reward then does God promise to faithful givers?We find the answer in II Cor. 9:8,10: "And God is able to make all
grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things,
may abound to every good work: ... (Now He that ministereth seed to the sower
both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the
fruits of your righteousness."

Here
God promises to the faithful giver, "bread
for your food," that is, He will supply our needs.He promises "to multiply your seed sown."This refers to the "incorruptible"seed, "the
Word of God" (I Pet. 1:23), and it indicates that God will give the
faithful giver added opportunities for sowing the Word.He promises also to "increase the fruits of your
righteousness." This shows that cheerful and faithful giving will
enrich our spiritual lives now, but it also looks forward to the future.The faithful giver is laying up fruit in Heaven, to be received in reward
at the Judgment Seat of Christ, when the Lord comes.Then we shall be rewarded, not only for our giving, but for all that we
have done for our Lord.

Where
Should We Give?

The
Word of God makes it plain that we should give our gifts and offerings to those
who are sending forth the Word of God.

"Let
him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good
things." (Gal.6:6).The word
"communicate" here means to share with.In other words, we are to share our money with those who are faithfully
proclaiming the Word of God.Pastors,
teachers, evangelists, missionaries, tract distributors and any other Christian
workers who are faithfully giving out the Word of God are worthy of our support.

The
Scripture says, "Let him that is taught in the word give unto him that teaches. .
." Plain and simple, isn't it?We are to give to those from whom we receive spiritual food,
encouragement and comfort.If you
are being taught by the pastor of your church, that is where you are receiving
spiritual food and that is your first responsibility.If you're receiving spiritual food from a Gospel broadcast,
then by all means support it.There
are faith missions at home and abroad, rescue missions and many other Christian
works, which are worthy of the support of God's people.Don't forget that these, as well as Gospel broadcasts, could not be
carried on without the support of God's people.

We
are living in the end of the church age, when the professing church as a whole
has departed from God and His Word.We
must remember this, and be very careful to give our money where it will be used
to get out the Word of God in its purity.

If
you are a child of God and you support a preacher who doesn't preach the Word of
God, you're as guilty in the sight of God as he is.Any Christian who stays with a modernistic church and helps to support it
is going to lose his reward.Notice:

"If
there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your
house, neither bid him God speed: for he that biddeth him God speed is partaker
of his evil deeds."(I
John 10, 11.

)

If
your church is not giving you spiritual food or holding to the doctrine of
Christ, God says that you should not be a partaker of their "evil
deeds" by giving them His money.You
should know the church you support.You
should know the preacher you support.

In
closing, let me say that there is no rule governing the giving of a Christian
except that he is to give freely, liberally and cheerfully.So my dear friend, if you are born again, the God who called you and who
saved you, will guide you as to where, when and how much to give.If you will pray about your giving, you will not go wrong and you will
not lose your reward.All that God
expects from us is a willing heart.As
Christians, let us bear in mind the statement of our blessed Lord, "It is more blessed to give
than to receive." (Acts 20:35)

STAFF NOTE: To read another
insightful article written by THE CHRISTIAN JEW FOUNDATION on
the subject of LAW and GRACE, see the article titled:
BELIEVER AND THE LAW and an article
the founding director of Precious Testimonies has authored titled:
EXPOSING THE LEGALISM MONSTER

The absolute best book I have ever read about
money and giving is written by Evangelist James Robison. It is a treasure chest
of insight and wisdom. I would encourage all to read it. The title of his book
is: TRUE PROSPERITY. ISBN #:
1-4143-0029-8 (hc). It is published by Tyndale House Publishers.

are you at peace with God? If not, you
can be. Do you know what awaits you when you die? You can have
the assurance from God that heaven will be your home, if you would like
to be certain. Either Jesus Christ died for your sins, or He didn't (He
did!). Are you prepared to stand before God on the Judgment Day
and tell Him that you didn't need
the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the Cross to have your sins forgiven and
get in right-standing with God? We plead with you ... please don't make
such a tragic mistake.

To get to know God; to be at
peace with God; to have your sins forgiven; to make certain heaven will
be your home for eternity; to make certain that you are in right-standing with
God right now ... please
click hereto help understand the
importance of being reconciled to God. What you do about being reconciled
to God will determine where you will spend eternity, precious one. Your
decision to be reconciled to God is the most important decision you'll ever make
in this life.

If this writing has touched
you in some special way, would you please share it with us? It is always a
blessing to the ministry staff and to those who support this outreach to hear
how God is touching lives through this ministry. Please identify the
title of the testimony, and the
author's name, and Email us at:
ptoffice@precious-testimonies.com

We want to thank each of you who allows us to publish your testimony, for
those who faithfully pray for this ministry, for those who care about loved ones
and forward these testimonies and other ministry writings to others, and for
those who help under-gird this ministry financially.
You are so vital to this outreach,
and we can never thank you enough.

Like most other evangelistic ministries, we rely on the Lord to place it
on people's hearts to sow into this ministry He has called us to. Would you
please pray and see if the Lord would have you make a love offering to
Precious Testimonies? It doesn't have to be a large offering either. No gift
is too small, and every gift you give in helping us reach lost souls will be
generously rewarded on the Judgment Day, the Bible promises. If you
haven't read on our financial page, no salaries are paid to those keeping this
ministry in operation. All donations are used to help cover expenses to
keep the outreach touching lives for Jesus.

(Precious
Testimonies is a non-denominational 501-C-3 ministry, and financial love
offerings to this ministry are tax-deductible. A summary of financial love
offerings can be viewed by clicking on the following link:
Financial Summary).